DUI arrests up from last New Year’s holiday weekend

The number of drunken drivers arrested in the first 30 hours of the New Year’s holiday weekend shot up both in San Diego and across the state when compared to last year, a California Highway Patrol officer said Saturday.

From 6 p.m. Thursday to midnight today, CHP officers arrested 64 DUI suspects in San Diego, compared to just 47 last year, Officer Larry Landeros said.

Statewide, the number of arrests is 898, compared to 688 during the 2008-09 holiday period, the officer said.

There were two fatalities in San Diego County - a pregnant woman killed by an alleged drunken driver who collided with her broken-down vehicle on the 805 freeway in San Diego, and a woman struck by a car in Chula Vista - compared to one last year, Landeros said.

He said the number of fatalities statewide was 12, compared to 16 last year.

The figure for fatalities includes all law enforcement jurisdictions in the state, while the DUI arrests are only those made by CHP officers.